for 13th Annual (2016) "Humies" Awards
for Human-Competitive Results
Produced by Genetic and Evolutionary Computation
www.human-competitive.org
To be Held at
Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO)
July 20-24, 2016 (Wednesday-Sunday)
Denver, Colorado
http://gecco-2016.sigevo.org
http://www.human-competitive.org
Entries are hereby solicited for awards totaling $10,000 for
human-competitive results that have been produced by any form of
genetic and evolutionary computation (including, but not limited to
genetic algorithms, genetic programming, evolution strategies,
evolutionary programming, learning classifier systems, grammatical
evolution, gene expression programming, differential evolution, etc.)
and that have been published in the open literature between the
deadline for the previous competition and the deadline for the current
competition.
The competition will be held as part of the 2016 Genetic and
Evolutionary Computation (GECCO) conference operated by the
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group (SIG)
on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation (SIGEVO). Presentations of
entries will be made at the conference. The winners of the awards
will be announced during the conference. See
http://gecco-2016.sigevo.org/
IMPORTANT DATES:
Monday June 1, 2016 Deadline for entries (consisting of one TEXT file
and one or more PDF files). Send entries to
koza at human-competitive dot org
Monday June 22, 2016 Finalists will be notified by e-mail
Thursday July 6, 2016 Finalists must submit their presentation (e.g.,
PowerPoint, PDF) for posting on the competition web site. Send
presentations to koza at human-competitive dot org
July 20-24,2016 (Wednesday-Sunday) The GECCO conference
Wednesday July 20, 2016 (TENTATIVE) Presentations before judging
committee at public session of the GECCO conference
Sunday July 24, 2015 (TENTATIVE) Announcement of awards at plenary
session of the GECCO conference
JUDGING COMMITTEE
- Erik Goodman
- Una-May O'Reilly
- Wolfgang Banzhaf
- Darrell Whitley
- Lee Spector
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Techniques of genetic and evolutionary computation are being
increasingly applied to difficult real-world problems - often yielding
results that are not merely academically interesting, but competitive
with the work done by creative and inventive humans. Starting at the
Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) in 2004, cash
prizes have been awarded for human-competitive results that had been
produced by some form of genetic and evolutionary computation in the
previous year.
This prize competition is based on published results. The publication
may be a paper at the GECCO conference (i.e., regular paper, poster
paper, or any other full-length paper), a paper published anywhere in
the open literature (e.g., another conference, journal, technical
report, thesis, book chapter, book), or a paper in final form that has
been unconditionally accepted by a publication and is in press (that
is, the entry must be identical to something that will be published
imminently without any further changes). The publication may not be
an intermediate or draft version that is still subject to change or
revision by the authors or editors. The publication must meet the
usual standards of a scientific publication in that it must clearly
describe a problem, the methods used to address the problem, the
results obtained, and sufficient information about how the work was
done in order to enable the work described to be independently
replicated.
An automatically created result is considered "human-competitive" if
it satisfies at least one of the eight criteria below.
(A) The result was patented as an invention in the past, is an
improvement over a patented invention, or would qualify today as a
patentable new invention.
(B) The result is equal to or better than a result that was accepted
as a new scientific result at the time when it was published in a
peer-reviewed scientific journal.
(C) The result is equal to or better than a result that was placed
into a database or archive of results maintained by an internationally
recognized panel of scientific experts.
(D) The result is publishable in its own right as a new scientific
result independent of the fact that the result was mechanically
created.
(E) The result is equal to or better than the most recent
human-created solution to a long-standing problem for which there has
been a succession of increasingly better human-created solutions.
(F) The result is equal to or better than a result that was considered
an achievement in its field at the time it was first discovered.
(G) The result solves a problem of indisputable difficulty in its
field.
(H) The result holds its own or wins a regulated competition involving
human contestants (in the form of either live human players or
human-written computer programs).
Contestants should note that a pervasive thread in most of the above
eight criteria is the notion that the result satisfy an "arms length"
standard - not a yardstick based on the opinion of the author, the
author's own institution (educational or corporate), or the author's
own close associates. "Arms length" may be established in numerous
ways. For example, if the result is a solution to "a long-standing
problem for which there has been a succession of increasingly better
human-created solutions," it is clear that the scientific community
(not the author, the author's own institution, or the author's close
associates) have vetted the significance of the problem. Similarly, a
problem's significance may be established if the result replicates or
improves upon a scientific result published in a peer-reviewed
scientific journal, replicates or improves upon a previously patented
invention, constitutes a patentable new invention, or replicates or
improves a result that was considered an achievement in its field at
the time it was first discovered. Similarly, a problem's significance
may be established if the result holds its own or wins a regulated
competition involving live human players or human-written computer
programs. In each of the foregoing examples, the standard for
human-competitiveness is being established external to the author, the
author's own institution, or the author's close associates. It is also
conceivable to rely only on criterion G ("The result solves a problem
of indisputable difficulty in its field"); however, if only criterion
G is claimed, there must be a clear and convincing argument that the
problem's "difficulty" is indeed "indisputable."
The competition will be held as part of the annual Genetic and
Evolutionary Computation (GECCO) conference. Presentations of entries
are to be made at the conference. The awards and prizes will be
announced at the conference.
Cash prizes of $5,000 (gold), $3,000 (silver), and bronze (either one
prize of $2,000 or two prizes of $1,000) will be awarded for the best
entries that satisfy one or more of the criteria for
human-competitiveness. The awards will be divided equally among
co-authors unless the authors specify a different division at the time
of submission. Prizes are paid by check in U.S. dollars after the
GECCO conference. The judges may, based on submissions, rearrange the
prize amounts and prize categories within the total amount available
for prizes.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTERING THE "HUMIES"
If you plan to make an entry into this competition, please check the
web site at www.human-competitive.org for updated information and for
possible changes immediately prior to submitting your entry.
If you make an entry, please re-check the web site prior to the
conference for possible changes in the instructions or the schedule.
All entries are to be sent electronically to koza at human-competitive
dot org. All entries will be promptly acknowledged, so please make an
inquiry if you do not receive a reasonably prompt acknowledgment
shortly after your submission.
An entry must consist of one TEXT file and one or more PDF files. If
the same authors are making multiple entries, please submit separate
e-mails, each containing the required TEXT file and PDF file(s)
supporting the entry.
The TEXT file must contain the following 10 items. Please be very
careful to include ALL required information. Contestants are alerted
to the fact that items 6 and 9 are especially important and will be
the main basis by which entries will be judged. The papers and
presentations from earlier competitions (starting in 2004) are posted
at the competition web site at www.human-competitive.org. These
previous entries may be informative and helpful in crafting your
entry.
1. the complete title of one (or more) paper(s) published in the open
literature describing the work that the author claims describes a
human-competitive result;
2. the name, complete physical mailing address, e-mail address, and
phone number of EACH author of EACH paper(s);
3. the name of the corresponding author (i.e., the author to whom
notices will be sent concerning the competition);
4. the abstract of the paper(s);
5. a list containing one or more of the eight letters (A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, or H) that correspond to the criteria (see above) that the
author claims that the work satisfies;
6. a statement stating why the result satisfies the criteria that the
contestant claims (see examples of statements of human-competitiveness
as a guide to aid in constructing this part of the submission);
7. a full citation of the paper (that is, author names; publication
date; name of journal, conference, technical report, thesis, book, or
book chapter; name of editors, if applicable, of the journal or edited
book; publisher name; publisher city; page numbers, if applicable);
8. a statement either that "any prize money, if any, is to be divided
equally among the co-authors" OR a specific percentage breakdown as to
how the prize money, if any, is to be divided among the co-authors;
9. a statement stating why the authors expect that their entry would
be the "best," and
10. An indication of the general type of genetic or evolutionary
computation used, such as GA (genetic algorithms), GP (genetic
programming), ES (evolution strategies), EP (evolutionary
programming), LCS (learning classifier systems), GE (grammatical
evolution), GEP (gene expression programming), DE (differential
evolution), etc.
The PDF file(s) are to contain the paper(s). The strongly preferred
method is that you send a separate PDF file for each of your paper(s)
relating to your entry. Both the text file and the PDF file(s) for
each entry will be permanently posted on a web page shortly after the
deadline date for entries (for use by the judges, conference
attendees, and anyone else who is interested) and will remain posted
on the web as a permanent record of the competition. If your paper is
only available on the publisher's web site and your publisher
specifically requires that your published paper may appear only on
your own personal page, the second choice is that you send link(s) to
a separate web page on your web site containing link(s) to the PDF
file(s) of the paper(s) that constitute your entry. This separate web
page is to contain nothing else, so the interested parties may quickly
locate your paper(s). If you use this second-choice option, you must
ALSO supply a link to a permanent web site maintained by your
publisher where your specific paper may be viewed or purchased (that
is, not a link merely to the publisher's general home page, but a link
to the specific web page containing your paper on the publisher's
site). The objective, in each case, is to provide a permanent record
of the entries and to make it easy for anyone to locate your material.
Generally, only one paper should be submitted. Note that this is a
competition involving a result that satisfies the criteria for being
human-competitive (not a competition involving an evaluation of the
author's entire body of work). More than one paper should be
submitted only if no single paper fully describes the specific result
or method.
The judging committee will review all entries and identify a short
list for presentation at the GECCO conference. Finalists will be
notified by an e-mail to the corresponding author. Please acknowledge
receipt of this message, so the judges know that you received your
notice. Finalists must then make a short oral presentation to the
judging committee at a public session of the GECCO conference. The
presentations will be held on one of the early days of the conference,
and the winners will be announced a day or two later at the
conference.
Finalists must submit their presentation (e.g., a PowerPoint, PDF) by
e-mail to koza at human-competitive dot org. All submissions will be
promptly acknowledged, so please make an inquiry if you do not receive
a reasonably prompt acknowledgment. These presentations will be posted
on the web page for the competition.
At the GECCO conference, there will be 10-minute oral presentations by
the finalists to the judging committee. The presentations will be
open to all conference attendees at a special session of the
conference. The oral presentation should primarily focus on
1. why the result qualifies as being human-competitive and
2. why the judges should consider the entry as "best" in comparison to
other entries that may also be "human-competitive" (because, as
previously mentioned, these are the two main standards by which
entries will be judged by the judges).
In the short oral presentation to the judges, a description of the
work itself is decidedly secondary. By the time of the presentation
the judges will be familiar with the papers. Thus, the focus of the
presentation is on reasons why the work being presented should win a
prize - not an explanation or presentation of the work itself.
In the unlikely event that a presenter is scheduled to make a
presentation elsewhere at the GECCO conference at the same time,
please notify the judging committee, so they can rearrange time slots.
After the oral presentations, the award committee will meet and
consider the presentations.
The presenting author for each entry must register for the GECCO
conference.
A judge will recuse himself or herself if he or she is closely
associated with a finalist (e.g., a current academic advisor, current
collaborator, co-author with the finalist of related work).
Additional information is at www.human-competitive.org
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